Hurdles
by Bellatlas
Summary: FAR FROM HOME SPOILERS: Peter turns to Happy after that fateful mid credit scene. One-shot. Fluff.


Peter's muscles burned in a fashion that they hadn't since the godawful fitness pacer test back before he became Spiderman. If he thought that was child cruelty, he'd had another thing coming. They burned so much that he knew his body would have shut down and forced him to drop to his knees and vomit if not for the buckets worth of adrenaline in his veins. Even with it, his legs began to cramp and lock and lock up, refusing to move properly and making it endlessly difficult to continue running.

It felt like there was ice in his blood: a freezing cold against the heat of his muscles working overtime, and not in the good icy-hot patch after a long day of patrolling kind of way. It was more of a 'so hot it feels like your insides are being simultaneously frozen off and boiled alive' type of deal and his skin crawled at the sensation. A screaming sort of pain tore down his side and he knew instantly that something just tore. Before he could figure out exactly what, though, his toe caught on something: a vine or a tree root. He wasn't quite sure which. Whatever it was, it sent him sprawling, flying through the air with no point of contact with the ground.

Oh, man, this is going to hurt, he thought as the ground zoomed beneath him in slow motion, getting closer and closer and closer to his face. He collided with the dirt palms first, skidding against the brush, followed by nose, and then his forehead against a second nearby tree with a stomach-churning crunch. Pain blossomed behind his eyes and blood dripped from his nose. Broken. His nose was definitely broken. Truth be told, he couldn't even find it in him to care. A little spill was nothing compared to getting hit by a train.

And, getting hit by a train was nothing compared to having your identity revealed and narrative spun against you in the middle of Time's Square. Peter shuddered.

'Run,' MJ had mouthed to him as everyone in Time's Square tore their attention from the news broadcast and started pointing. Started taking pictures, started yelling, started trying to shake down the street light that he was on. It swayed from side to side, and Peter, even with his superhuman agility, nearly slipped off from the pure state of shock he was in.

They were turning into a damn mob.

Why? Was it all the internet points that came with a recording of taking Spiderman down? Did they actually believe the broadcast? After everything he'd done, did they really hate him? The people of his own neighborhood?

His eyes widened and he shook his head slightly. No. No, things were finally going his way again. It was too soon for things to go off the rails. It was at least another six months before he was owed another catastrophe. This couldn't be happening. There was nothing to gain from this! Mysterio was dead!

Another violent sway of the lamp post startled him out of his musings.

He needed to get out, now, but his eyes fell on MJ instead. She couldn't be in the middle of this.

"I'll be fine, Peter, run!"

His eyes bugged out of his head. "MJ, no!" he screamed, but it was too late. The crowd turned on MJ as soon as she voiced her connection to Peter, and he cursed at the sky.

People were beginning to circle around her, form a sort of ring, some even abandoning their attempts to shake down the light post. After all, if they couldn't get Spiderman... the next best thing was Spiderman's girlfriend.

A big burly man broke through the wall of people encircling MJ. He stood there for a second, squaring his shoulders and sizing her up, and MJ, even for all of her fierceness, stepped back. She knew she'd lose this one.

The man made a grab for her, twisting his fist in her curls, still disheveled from their date. God, it was only a fun date two minutes ago. What happened?!. He yanked, bicep the size of MJ's head flexing hard, and her head snapped back unceremoniously. For the first time in his life, Peter felt almost rooted to the spot in fear. Not MJ. Never MJ.

A second person stepped up to her, reaching for something in his pocket. MJ looked up at Peter with the most unbridled look of sheer terror that Peter had seen in his life, and snapped him out of his daze.

He reacted on instinct, diving down from the lampost into the sea of people, and knocked more than a few of the braver ones out of the way. He'd never used quite this much of his strength against normal humans before, even the criminals, always considering himself above it. Aparently, he was only above it when it wasn't someone he loved that was at risk.

Things happened almost too quickly for him to process. There were so many cameras, so many obscenities yelled. Elbows and knees collided with skulls and stomachs. Anything to get MJ out of this. He finally fought his way through to her, pulled her close with one arm and kicked off onto a web with another.

Someone made a grab for her still, but only managed to pull one of her boots off as he kicked off the ground, web in hand.

"Hey!" she shouted, but Peter couldn't care less. If a boot was his only casualty, he considered that a win.

His muscles worked twice as hard to keep the both of them airborne as he deployed webs one-handed, free falling for a second every time he went to cast another.

"I thought we agreed that we'd never be doing this again." she breathed in his ear.

"Sorry," Peter said, scanning the ground for somewhere, anywhere safe to land. Away from the people and all of the watching eyes. He so wished that he had his stealth suit right now rather than the red and blue suit that might as well have just screamed 'look at me!' "Need you safe," he whispered to Michelle.

He settled on the top of an office building with a lip around the edge high enough to hide behind and a stairwell down to the ground and put her on her own two feet- far enough away that the original mob of people wouldn't be able to trace them all.

MJ stumbled for a moment, knees wobbling, but didn't hesitate in taking his face her hands and pulling his mask off. "And I need you safe. I'll be fine. I promise. You need to run. "

Peter looked at her with pain in his eyes, and shook his head ever so slightly. "You can't promise something like that. I… I can't leave you here right now. Not after that. I need to keep you safe. You, and May, and Ned."

The corners of her eyes crinkled as she smiled sadly.

Even as he said it, he knew that wasn't how it worked. MJ was a million times safer away from him right now. None of those people ever would have even made the connection between the two of them if MJ hadn't yelled his name. If worst came to worst, she could just say she didn't know that all of the attacks were on Peter's hands and that she wasn't on his side anymore. Not that she ever would. But, she could.

Every government in the world would be after him within the hour. He shook his head again, slowly at first and then more violently.

MJ mirrored him, nodding in turn.

He closed his eyes, trying to block the world out. No, no, no, no. no! This wasn't fair. He could feel tears prick at the corners of his eyes, but blinked them back. Now wasn't the time. Why did it have to happen like this?

"E.D.I.T.H?" Peter pulled the glasses from his pocket. His hands shook violently as he raised the glasses to his face.

"Hello, Peter."

"I need protection over May, MJ, and Ned. Everything you've got. No exceptions. Cloak the drones. L-let them know that I sent them there to protect them. Not-not… yeah."

Peter didn't wait for the response from E.D.I.T.H before pulling MJ close and leaning in for a goodbye kiss. It was one of the deep ones. One of the ones that they would have tried to sneak out of sight for if May or MJ's mom was home. One he would have relished at any other point in time.

There was helicopter in the distance. Far away, but Peter could already hear it as if rotors were already pounding against his ears. Was it the news, tipped off by the cell phone footage of him rescuing MJ? The police, coming to arrest him? The _military_? Something completely unrelated? Peter had a sinking feeling that it was one of the former.

This was bad. This was really, really bad.

He painfully tore his lips from MJ's. "Run," they whispered to each other, though he still held her close, resting his chin on top of her head, for a moment more.

With a nod, a nod that every fiber of Peter's entire being was telling him not to make, to just stay dammit, stay with MJ and Ned and May, Peter took off swinging while MJ turned to hide in the stairwell, one foot with only a sock.

He swung from building to building until the skyscrapers descended into warehouses, until the lamp posts fell into the distance and the tree limbs weren't enough to hold his weight. He was forced to run instead, just like he'd promised MJ he would. His arms pumped by his sides, already sore from swinging so far with her in tow.

Run where, though? He didn't know. Where could he go that he wasn't a threat? Where could he go that he wasn't a danger to everyone he loved? He couldn't lose another person. Not again.

Peter desperately wanted to stop and think for a second, but there was no time to think of a getaway plan. He channeled his sixth sense to lead him as best he could, picked a direction, and ran.

Ran and ran until he felt like he was going to throw up. Ran until he tripped over that damn tree root that he should have seen (seriously, what happened to letting his spider sense lead him?) and went sprawling on the ground. The mask was still off from when MJ kissed him and his head cracked against a second tree. Bark and needles and pine cones cut into his face and he squeezed his eyes shut just in time to avoid getting stabbed in the eye by one of them as he tumbled to a stop.

Peter wanted to stay down. To lie there and just catch his breath, even as blood poured from his broken nose across his cheeks. Just for a second. Just a moment to breathe. He couldn't, though. Not now. He had to get farther away. As far away as he possibly could.

He pulled himself to his feet, panting. Dry heaving. His whole mouth tasted like bile. It was _so much_ worse when he stopped running, and he half thought his lungs would catch fire or give out. He half hoped that they would.

When he looked up, he had tripped into a clearing. There was a small lake sprawled out in front of him, lined with fir trees, its surface glassy and unmoving. A small dock floated out onto the pond, even though there was no boat, and off to the side, a cabin.

Oh.

Oh no.

Oh no no no.

His breath stopped short and he felt like he was choking on the air itself.

_Not here_.

He hadn't been back here since, since, since…

In the window, the silhouette of a little girl appeared, nose smushed against the glass as she peered outside, trying to find what the ruckus was all about. Morgan.

She pointed at him and yelled something to someone inside.

No no no no _no_! They couldn't know he was here. Why here? He shouldn't be here. Why did his spider-sense have to lead him _here_, towards more people he loved and cared about?

Towards more people he couldn't lose and was probably putting in danger by his mere presence. Pepper and Morgan didn't need this.

He pulled himself to his feet, even as his head swam and he thought he might faint right back onto the bed of pine needles. Before he could stumble very far, the door opened, and out stepped- "Happy? What are you doing here."

"Peter, oh my God." Happy started toward him, half jogging in the way that he did, but Peter jumped back, a hand extended as if to push Happy away if he got too close.

"Stay away!" He yelled. "Um…"

He reached up for his glasses, but E.D.I.T.H was no longer on his face anymore. Not after his fall.

Oh no.

After everything that happened… how could he lose her? How had he not been more careful? Did somebody else already snatch her up? Had he lost her _before_ he fell? Did he lose her back in the city?!

He dropped down on his knees and frantically began searching through the leaves and pine needles littering the forest floor while Happy just stood and stared.

Where _was_ she?

He smeared blood from his skinned hands across everything that he touched as he dug through the leaf litter, willing his spider-sense forward. He _had_ to find them.

Happy calmly walked over, not saying a word, and stooped down to pick up the glasses. They were sitting on the grass right in front of him, in plain sight. Not in the pine needles and dead leaves at all.

"Looking for these?"

"Y-yeah." Peter's hand was still shaking when he reached out to take them. He waited for the relief to wash over him as he put them back on, but it never happened. There would be no relief today. "E.D.I.T.H?"

"Yes, Peter?"

" Happy and Pepper and Morgan, too."

Happy looked at him with a sideways glance.

"Protecting you!" Peter nearly shouted. "Not killing you."

Happy blinked. "Peter, I know. I know you're not trying to kill me."

Peter took a few more breaths before speaking again. It still felt like the air was too thick to make it into his lungs. Still distantly nauseous. "Did you see the news?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I saw."

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have come here. I didn't _mean_ to come here. I just ran and thought the spider sense would lead me somewhere farther from you guys. I don't want to lead anyone here. I promise that's not how it happened. It's all edited. Well, not all of it. I did say execute them all. But, I just meant the illusion commands for the drones. Not London! I didn't- I'm not-"

"Peter I _know_. I was _there_, if you'll recall."

"I know, I know, I just… fuck!"

He looked up at Happy, desperately trying to keep the unshed tears in his eyes from spilling over. Not here. Not now.

"They tried to get MJ, Happy." His voice broke. He'd been through a lot of loss in life. Had a lot of people close to him hurt or killed. But, never because of _him. _Sure, maybe he still bore a bit of the guilt from Ben and Tony's deaths, but they didn't get hurt _because _of Peter.

MJ did. It was a whole extra level of devastating that he hadn't known existed.

They tried to get MJ because of _me."_ Tears started spilling over on their own accord, leaving wet trails down his face that mixed with the blood. He desperately tried to wipe them away and compose himself, but the harder he tried, the harder his breath shook and the faster they fell.

"Hey." Happy crouched down in front of him. "Nobody tried to get anybody because of you, okay?"

"But-"

"No buts. None of this is on _you_. Come on in. Pepper is serving dinner soon, and there's plenty of food. Morgan is a big fan, by the way."

"No. Happy. I can't… If something happened to you guys because I'm here… "

"Peter. Look at me. I'm serious. Look at me."

Begrudgingly, Peter raised his eyes to meet Happy's.

"I was head of security for _Tony Stark_ for over a decade, and you're using Tony's own _drones_ from _space_ to protect us all already. Don't insult us. You're fine here. We all are."

Peter fumbled with E.D.I.T.H, readjusting her on the bridge of his nose, unsure.

"Seriously, Peter. We're all safe here. We're probably some of the safest people in the world right about now."

"I just… don't think I could eat right now." His stomach churned at the thought of any food, whether from running so much or from all of the anxiety he couldn't tell. Probably both.

"Oh. Yeah. That's fine. Is there anything else you need? A glass of water? A few x-rays for good measure?"

Peter rested his head on his knees and stared out at the lake. It looked so odd with no tribute floating on top of it. Just the thought made the lump in his throat swell, the tears fall harder. How many times had Tony sat out on the porch looking over the lake in the mornings with this very same view… or evenings. Peter wasn't quite sure if Tony was a morning person or a night owl. How many things about him didn't he know? And now he'd never get the chance.

There was a burlap tent in the corner of the lawn propped up by a tree. Morgan's, built by Tony no doubt.

"I just wish I could talk to him."

Happy heaved a sigh. "Me too, kid. More than you know."

"I bet he never had to deal with this… everyone loved him. I'm probably never going to be able to do a patrol again without everyone giving me the finger… or trying to kill me. He'd be able to convince them..."

Happy couldn't help but laugh, and Peter shot a glance at him through his teary eyes. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I know this is serious, but… _Tony_? We're talking about the same guy, here, right?"

Peter frowned. "Yeah."

"Peter, almost everything you've done since he recruited you has been cleaning up the messes of the people who _hated_ Tony."

"Oh." Peter fumbled with a twig on the ground. "I mean, when you put it like that, I guess, but…"

"But what? You didn't sign the accords, so that means we'll still be able to fix it."

"The accords?"

"Yeah." Happy frowned at him. "Did you not actually read them? There was a really stupid clause in there somewhere. Tony was working on getting it changed, actually. About superhumans not getting a trial. It was just meant as an extra deterrent to prevent supervillains, but… yeah. It wasn't great."

Peter's eyes bugged out of his head. "Am I- they're just going to throw me in jail forever? Just like that?!"

"No! No no no no no. That's getting changed. You didn't even sign. They're not doing that. Please don't freak out again!"

"Freak out? Me? Never." Peter's voice squeaked. "I just… I just don't know what to _do_, Happy. He always knew what to do. I can't- I'm not-"

"You're not Iron Man. I know. We've been over this already, Peter. You doubt the hero thing. But, you're also just as good-hearted, just as irresponsible with technology, and you never give up. You have all of the qualities that made Tony a great hero, and some of your own. But… the fact that you're still doubting this so much… do you still want to do this? Spidermanning?"

Peter opened his mouth to speak. Nobody had ever asked them, except for Mysterio, and even then only to get E.D.I.T.H.

He looked up at Happy with large, unblinking eyes. He really hoped Happy wasn't saying all this to get in his aunt's pants.

_"Yeah." _ Peter surprised himself with the certainty of his answer. "It's just _so _much. I'm the last active Avenger, and no matter how well everyone says I'm doing, I still feel like I'm a kid playing dress up trying to fill Tony's shoes. And now this? It all seems so impossible now."

"So stop trying to fill Tony's shoes. Stop trying to be Iron Man. You're _Spiderman_. You're _Peter Parker."_

Peter chuckled humorlessly, nervously. "And now everyone knows it."

"And you know what? Good. It's about damn time. Someday, they're going to know it for a whole different reason. Someday they're going to know it because of how brave and determined you are, and maybe sorta dorky but in that good way that most people seem to like."

Peter stared down at his hands. "I don't know."

"Well, I do." Happy squeezed his shoulder supportively. "I've never seen you even consider giving up before. Don't start now. I know you've got some big shoes to fill, Peter. And I know that this hurdle just made everything a million times harder, but you'll do it. Someday, some awkward kid out there who hasn't even been born yet is going to be wondering how the hell they're ever going to fill Spiderman's shoes."

Peter didn't know what to think. He only half believed Happy, but that was enough. It was enough for tonight. "Okay," he nodded. "Okay."

"Okay." Happy pulled himself to his feet, groaning something about getting too old, and pulled Peter up next to him. "Let's get you patched up and get some food in you. Then, we'll figure this out. As long as you have the will to keep doing this, we'll find a way. And I know we're not Tony. But, you always have us.

Peter nodded again, this time more to himself than to happy.

They'd do this. He could do this. He was about 67% sure. And until he could be 100%, at least he knew he could count on Happy to pull him the remaining 33% of the way.

* * *

Thanks for reading, guys! I know that there are a lot of potential ways for Peter to clear his name, but nonetheless, there will undoubtedly be people who won't believe him, and I doubt the scene would be included at all if the incident weren't meant to cause a LOT of trouble. This usually isn't my style, but I had to get some sort of story off my chest after seeing that mid-credit scene because OH MY GOD, and vwala: this rushed little drabble was born. Please let me know what you think! Reviews absolutely make my day, and I'm still emotionally damaged from FFH.


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